What a great thread!

My wife and I took Tillie to our favorite bar last night. Every time a friend showed up, I took them out to see my new car. Each of the three ladies asked me if it was a hybrid or an electric! But the guy I took out to see it went, "Oh, my god - is it an S?"

I love Rick-Anderson's story. That should be made into a song so I can put it on my "Car Toons" CD!

And the runaway truck chasing the MINI in reverse - oh, my god! That should be made into a commercial - "The SUV Backlash Backlash Begins Now!"

I definitely think MSFITOY should start telling people that red thing is where you plug it in.

And buying a second one for your other foot! Oh, my god! LOL! (One of Tillie's many nicknames is "Roller Skate.")

Sorry, J-Didi. I don't believe it. A cop who uses the word "cute"? Come on, you'll have to do better than that!

Emis - I agree with Dragonflyer. You should send your story to Reader's Digest. (And send Dragonflyer a comission if they buy it!)

The story about blowing the head on the classic MINI and having to push it reminds me of the time I got to push a classic:

It was 1968. I had a friend who owned a head shop on Haight Street in San Francisco. I went up to visit him, hung around the shop until closing time, and then he said, let me take you for a ride. We step outside, he locks the doors, and when we turn around there's a little yellow Mini Cooper S right there at the curb.

The only catch, he says, is his battery's dead and he'll need a push to get it started. So he gets in and releases the brake. I push the car to the back of the parking space (it felt like it weighed about 50 pounds!) and then I go around to the rear and get ready to push.

"Okay, let me know when you're ready."

"Ready!"

"Turn your wheels - I'll watch for a hole in the traffic."

"No need for that - just push."

I push the car and he pops the clutch and the engine starts - all in the length of one San Francisco parking space!

Never saw anything like it.

That was the funny part of the story, but allow me to continue on just a bit longer... I got in the car and he asked me if I had ever seen Lombard Street. I hadn't, so there we went. Most memorable ride I've ever had in a car!

Hence my handle on this board...

Thanks for listening-

LombardStreet

 

Amazingly no...I figure it was a rock or pice of concrete maybe thrown up by another car from the other direction or something...I never saw it it was dark....I am going to drive by there today and see what I can see....

 

I have had people give me a threat that they were going to put oversized chess pieces on my roof if I made them mad..

 

Almost 3 years ago when I first brought my MINI home, my neighbors, husband and wife, walked across the street to my house to talk about the MINI.

"I love those", she said, "They are cute. So what are you going to do-get a real car to drive on the freeways?" She wasn't kidding. She said it with an absolutely straight face and meant no insult whatsoever. True story. :smile:

 

This happened to us only a few weeks after we bought our MINI, Brooksie - there weren't many others on the road yet, and altho we actually hadn't been able to talk to another San Diego MINI owner, we we were constantly being grinned at by just about everyone who saw her.


We're drivin' down Hwy 5 South near Mission Bay, it's a beautiful spring day, we're on our way to a birthday beach party, and I say out loud, "This would be great day for another MINI owner to be out at the Bay. I'll bet we see one here, if anywhere."


Seconds later my wife exclaims, "Look - a MINI!!"


D**n, that was fast! I look over and see a Chili Red & White MINI with white hood stripes parked at spot near the beach! Well, we're goin' there B4 we go to the party, that's for darn sure!! We zipped over to the Red MINI and and met the owner, Jeff from Sacramento. He was down here for a graduation ceremony. Jeff turned out to be an engineer for BMW (!!) and I let him know how much I love my Brooksie. We remarked how coincidental life was, and then we had to reluctantly leave for the original party.

That turned out to be a minor gathering of gear-head husbands, who were pretending they were there for birthday celebration for one of the wives. Yeah, right! They soon found out I was a new MINI owner, and sure enough, they had to see it! We were all gathered at this open pavilion about a quarter mile from the parking lot, with access only by a reasonably wide concrete footpath. No problem! Thank God for wheelchair access ramps. Few other cars would fit one so well! I bopped on down to the pavilion, & it was like the LA auto show! Hordes of fascinated onlookers ogling MY MINI! Well, a bunch, rather than hordes, but it was fun anyway! Then I drove around the outside of the pavilion on the footpaths, down the exit path to the parking lot, and, hey look, a patrol car!!!........ just watching! I grinned, and we motored on!

BCNU,
Rob in Dago

 

I have had the privelidge to drive my mini at 135 mph LEGALLY on a PUBLIC road. (After proper break in)

Yes, my MINI is lucky enough to have been broken in on the Autobahn, with it's first road trip going to Berlin.

 

My MINI has its own self-defense system. When huge SUVs are breathing down my back in traffic, I use my rear window squirter (turned around with the turn of a screwdriver) and squirt water at them. It really just irritates them. It has no real purpose, just to simply annoy. The most fun I had with it was when I hit the windshield of a Mazda Miata that needed to back off. It was on a hill at an advantageous angle.

A funny name that one of my dad's country friends has called the MINI is "BM Dubya spartscawr", say it aloud and people will think you're a redneck!

 

Jokes about our MINIs, i figure it will be a lot of them.
but my all time favorite joke about my MINI

What kind of car is it?
Oh it is a MINI.
Who make it?
BMW.
Oh! bmw? Never heard about this model, and it does not look like a BMW at all.
Oh, it is the new M serise from BMW! the little M serise!
Oh really!!!!!!!(weired look at the MINI logo)
Not Really!

 

As I came to a stop at a check point the 6'4" cop said "I always get the small cars. What is it?:smile: Who makes it?:smile: CUTE CAR"!

So, now that's two of us. Anyone else have a cop say cute car?

 

Well, hubby was driving Wanda through Texas, and I had activated the patented "Nag" system (my psychic radar detector which is HIGHLY accurate). He was driving right at the posted speed of 75. A dude in a dually pick-up went ROARING past us.

Shortly thereafter, we saw a state trooper on the other side of I-10, he put his lights on, drove across the highway, and fell in behind us. I said, "Pull over, Rick." He was sure that the trooper was after the dually. I said "No...pull over NOW."

The trooper claimed he radared us at 82, and I went ballistic on him, saying "NO WAY! He was going exactly 75 and besides, the MINI is known for overstating its speed on the speedometer...blah blah blah."

He asked for hubby's license, but NOT the proof of insurance. He came back with a strangely silly smirk on his face, said he was only going to give him a warning, then........the real purpose of the stop?

He started asking all kinds of questions about the MINI!

Clover

 

Here's your sign.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

This isn't really a funny story, but it was neat. Not too long after I got my mini, I was parked at a large gas station (had a restaurant, etc.) while I went inside. When I came back out there were three people circling around my mini looking in windows, etc. When I walked up one of them, an older, nice-looking gentleman said with a very British accent, "I just had to look at your mini, I was feeling homesick and it reminded me of back home."

Kirk

 

Thats funny because any MINI I see on the street I have to look inside, I can't help it!

I don't really have an humorus stories, but one time when I was driving up the California coast, my girlfriend and I stopped at this motel in Eureka, CA and this really fat ugly guy says from the upper level to me down by the car, "What king of car is that?" I said its a MINI Cooper S. He says "It looks like a shoe." What the hell? A shoe? I replied, "Yeah, but a really fast shoe."

Back in May when I first got the car, some of my fraternity brothers were giving me some guff about the car. So I saw a few of them once while driving on a rather busy spot on campus. I reached forward, flicked off the DSC, revved the engine and dropped the clutch. No one gave me any crap after that

 

Great stories! I hope I have some stories soon. Need more miles!

 

 

I've got two....

The very first trip into work after my breakin was over, I was zigzagging in and out of traffice driving like a bat outtahell with a HUGE adrenaline rush. This was NOT my old Civic. I pulled into parking lot, finished listening to this song, and I eventually started walking in. An older guy I did not know was walking behind me and says, "Is that your MINI Cooper?" I smiled and said, "Yes!" And he sternly says, "Well, did you have a nice flight?"

The second....

I was driving in a part of town I did not know. The lane I was in turned into a right turn only lane without notice, and I slowed down and put my blinker on. This nice car backed off to let me over, but a Ford Expedition was in the left lane and took it as HIS opportunity to get into that lane. I was almost already in the lane, when he just came barreling over and sideswiped my back end. I got back to the right, as did the car in back of me, but the Expedition sped off (@$$hole was on his cell phone). My first thought, "How's the car?" I looked and looked. There was a little scrape on the black trim, but other than that, NOT A SCRATCH. Those black fenders are really durable!!!

 

The day I picked up my MINI, a few years ago now, I was driving it home - smiling like a banshee - and enjoying the reaction from others.
Just outside of Sacramento, Ca, on I-80, I was in the slow lane (doing my best to break it in correctly) when a real nice '66 Mustang roars by me in the fast lane. He jams on his breaks and slows to my speed to check the car out. Unfortunately he was so interested in the MINI that he went into the median while looking back at me. He was so embarrassed he just gunned it and tore up the road.

Just before I reached home, the freeway I was on splits and the left lane turns into a lefthand turn lane. A Ford pick-up was passing me on the right, as I was slowing for the turn, trying to get a look at the car. He really should have been paying more attention to the road. The traffic in front of him had stopped and he had to lock-them-up and pull to the right to avoid hitting the car in front of him.

The best part, and possible the most fun, is the recognition I received while I drive this car. I've had nods, thumbs-up and smiles from every kind of vehicle - Harley Davidsons to Hondas (a real treat was a hearty wave from a guy on a classic Triumph), from Ferraris to classic VW's, and just the other day I had 3 guys at a gas station stop to talk to me about the MINI.

This car is great!

 

Just remember not to take 35 mph turns at 80. http://www.salisburypost.com/area/284693095993790.php

 

These stories are awesome! I've been laughing so hard...I never imagined I'd post a thread generating this much fun and happiness between motorers.

here's a few more from me:
a quote from the office "A mini could never beat a Porsche." ha ha ha

when I first got my mini I was doing 90 on the loop around phoenix when this oldschool Harley biker guy pulled up next to me. He was covered in the classic leather outfit (chaps and all) and had a white ruberbanded beard that was flapping in the wind about 3 feet behind him. He turned his head, grinned, gave me a big thumbs up and took off...that made my day! I grew up with the oldschool bluegrass loving biker guys and it was nice to know they can appreciate a Mini. (unlike other groups out there..."cough"...corvette drivers)

At our weekly car show this young punk walked by and made a stupid and degrating comment about my Mini, I think it was something to the fact of "I heard they're slow" I don't think he knew or cared that I was the owner, his girlfriend was walking behind him looking kind of mad about something but was looking at my Mini with obvious admiration. So I responded with the only thing I knew to; "Maybe if you liked Mini's your girlfriend wouldn't hate you"

 

This post belongs in it's own thread.

Sucks about the 2 people in it. Hope they survive. If they were in an SUV they would be dead. (Although if they were in SUV, they probably wouldnt be speeding).

 

Girl in passenger seat: "Wow! That was incredible! What was that floaty feeling in the last turn?"
Me: "That's called a "four wheel drift," fun, huh?"

Anyway...
I have a few, but recently I put my winter tire/wheel setup on. My summer setup obviously has more and stickier rubber to it and I was well used to driving with it. There was no snow on the ground the next evening when I went on an errand in my S and I proceeded to take a rather sharp turn at the speed at which I was used to driving it and "Swooosh," took it like a WRC car owing to the lack of grip in my snow tires and my own forgetfullness. I was mildly concerned for an instant until I remembered the hour I had spent in my garage the former evening and decided just to go with it. I managed to swing the car back the other way and almost perfectly into one of the open parking spots at my destination. I still had to pull up about four feet to pull fully into the spot, and it was priceless when I got up and saw a few old men sitting on a bench and looking at me horrorstricken as I walked into the package store.

 

This happened to me yesterday. I was travelling Northbound on Interstate 405 (One of the main freeways in Los Angeles). I was in my BRG MCS, following a black 2005 MINI Cooper, which was brand new, and had a young girl driving it, probably college student. Well anyway we were in the fast lane, and it was raining pretty hard. Water had started to gather near the center divider, about an inch or 2 deep.

I was following her for a good 5 minutes, admiring her rear end, when all of a sudden her MINI swerves double quick time into the right hand lane so as not to hit a big puddle of water, about 3 inches deep. It was a very funny sight. It was as though the little MINI was scared of the water.

..... but not my MINI.

It really was nothing to worry about. Ploughed through it no problem, in the mean time i'm receiving big splashes from the oncoming traffic in the other fast lane.

I continued on my way, now behind an SUV. We started to run into a few more puddles. Then a stream. Then all of a sudden all the cars in front of me - including all the SUV's, started
getting out of the lane..... because of the big *** river that used to be the 405 fast lane.

I was like "holy sh*t, thats alot of water". But then it occured to me that I havent water tested my MINI yet.

The water was probably just over a foot deep, and was the width of my lane, more shallow towards the dotted line. And at 30mph.....

..... I stormed through that stuff like I was the Bismark. The water spray on the front left was nearly as high as my roof! (Just mirror height
on the right where it was shallower) I even got some video coverage to prove it, hehehe.

My Camel has never let me down yet. /hugs Camel.

 

First trip up the West Coast with Brooksie, and going up the mountains on Interstate 5 in Oregon, I kept trying to pass this one beat-up Nissan pick-up with three in the cab and one guy in the bed. Traffic was heavy both ways, and every time we got to a passing lane, they would pull out in front of me, sometimes rather dangerously, blocking me. They were obviously flogging it as hard as possible, and it took me three or for tries to get by. They kept looking back at me and were having quite a good time , grinning and talking. I was a little steamed by the time I got by, but I refrained from flipping them off.

About an hour later, I pulled into a gas station to fill up, and lo and behold, they have pumps marked "Mini"!! An Omen, I thought - altho I guess it's for those that don't want their windshield washed by the attendant. While I'm answering questions about my MINI from the girl manning the pump, who should pull up, but, you guessed it, the Nissan truck lads. They hop out and come over to us and the first words out of their mouths - "A new MINI! Cool!" Well, you coulda knocked me over with a feather - they played some computer game with MINIs in it, where it was a kick-*** car, and they HAD to see as much of it as they could in real life! It was the first they'd seen, and they figured they'd never catch up to my MINI, so they kept blocking me so they could check it out as much as possible! I couldn't help laughing, and they THANKED ME for putting up with their antics. Go figure. ;-)

BCNU,

 

Check out the wheels on that MCS. No sport package unless they downgraded the wheels. Which means probably no DSC. Wonder how bad it would have been with DSC. Just a thought. Hope everyone is okay.

 

I got mine in November '02, when MINI's were fairly rare even here in Sacramento. The MINI was getting lots of thumbs-up attention. So one day when I pulled in to the gas station to fill up and I noticed the three teenage guys getting out of the car next to mine looking it over, I was expecting more of the same. The driver looked my car over, shook his head, and said, "man, that car is crazy small!" "Poof" went my ego! Of course, each of these lanky guys was well over six feet tall...